History, theatre, and lived experience converge in a story that refuses to remain in the past. The Crucible and McCarthyism.

Rehearsals. L to R: Proctor, Nurse, Guard, Corey. March 2026.

We live in an age of intolerance, violence, misinformation and downright deceit. In every aspect of our life; family, friends, business, work. For this, look no further than the 1950s, and The Crucible and McCarthyism.

Any moment of tranquility is an oasis of calm in this desert of hostility and constant discord. At night we try to sleep, perchance, just perchance, to dream. Any dissenting voices? I suspect not – and in today’s climate, those voices would probably be silenced anyway.

In 1952-53, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, and it premiered in 1953.

At the time, the United States was in the grip of McCarthyism, a period of intense anti-communist persecution led in part by Joseph McCarthy. Careers were destroyed by accusation alone, often without solid evidence. With their high visibility, Hollywood and the Creative Arts were particular targets.

Miller himself was directly affected. He was later called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and refused to name others, leading to a conviction for contempt of Congress, which was later overturned.

The Crucible is essentially a mixture of facts and artistic license. The play is based on the Salem Witch Trials, which took place in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts.

In 1692, a group of young girls in Salem Village began exhibiting strange behavior, such as fits, screaming, and hallucinations. They accused local women of witchcraft, and a special court was established to investigate. Over the course of the trials more than 200 people were accused, 19 were executed by hanging and one man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death with stones. Several others perished in prison.

No wonder then that Miller saw parallels with McCarthyism, and no wonder that those parallels have existed since and are stronger than ever today. Personally, I lost dear friends in the Hutu Tutsi machete-wielding massacres in Burundi in the early 1990s.

The Nzigamasabo Family, Burundi, 1990.

Today, we can all think of our own tragedies and injustices. Each individual one may affect us in a different way, but we are all affected.

I am currently lucky enough to participate in a production of The Crucible, thanks to the prescience of a wonderful community theatre group, The Suburban Players, an English-speaking, yet multi-national, company of great talent. Their talent is matched only by their endurance – formed in 1963, they have survived the traumas of Argentina’s seemingly permanent political, economic and social upheaval. No mean feat indeed.

When the play’s director, Simon Chater, proposed performing The Crucible in 2025,he was of course totally conscious of its relevance to the times we live in; I doubt however that he could foresee the acceleration worldwide of the sinister phenomena the play portrays.

Sitting in judgement of others. L to R: Willard, Cheever, Danforth, Guard. March 2026.

The Suburban Players are not alone in what they do – all over the world community theatre groups are keeping alive messages which are drowned out by the all-powerful purveyors of mass hysteria and distortion. Do those of a certain age not remember visiting the travelling fairgrounds and marveling at the Hall of Mirrors as our bodies changed shape before our eyes? Those mirrors are an anachronism now, replaced by the everyday life around us.

Community theatre is often looked down on generically, and some of it may occasionally be painful. Even then though, it is an act of love. People from all different walks of life come together to share a passion and put on a show for other people’s enjoyment. Ever been to see your children or friends play sports, and looked on with love at their delight, with pride at their achievements, and sometimes also guiltily wishing the referee would just blow the final whistle?

If, amongst all that, we can send and receive a message which resonates with people, then that makes everything even more worthwhile. My favourite TedTalk presentation is by Julian Treasure, on the power of the human voice in communication. It finishes with:

‘What would the world be like if we were speaking powerfully to people who are listening consciously, in environments which were fit for purpose. That would be a world that does sound beautiful, and one where understanding would be the norm.’

Thanks to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Simon Chater’s and the Suburban Players Board’s foresight, and the wonderful talent of its members, we will be trying to spread some of these ideas in April 2026, in San Isidro, Buenos Aires.

Footnote: please go to www.thesuburbanplayers.com and see below for details of the dates and places of the shows. We would love to see you there.